Information Literacy In An Era Of Fake News

Information literacy is an important skill, and unfortunately one that many people lack. Recently, I evaluated the website www.DHMO.org. Although most of the information available on the website has merit, it was created as a hoax to bring light to the subject of information literacy in todays’ society. My evaluation of the website will prove that the website masks itself as a reputable source of information, but by researching the website itself, it becomes evident that it is in fact nothing more than a hoax.

In “Colleges Turn ‘Fake News’ Epidemic into a Teachable Moment” (Washington Post, April 6, 2017), Kitson Jazynka highlights professors from across the United States that have implemented different strategies for teaching students to find and address fake news. Jazynka first writes of professor Beth Jannery at George Mason University and how her students have had personal experience with fake news and how they handled the situation. In one case, the student decided to research the topic herself and find the truth. Jazynka advises that the professors cited in her article are teaching students to “detect bias, missing points of view, misleading slants and economic influences” to ensure they have a complete understanding of the articles and their

In his devotional on January 10, 2017, President of BYU Kevin J. Worthen discussed the idea of living in a “post-truth world.” He reflects on the misdirection of information on the internet, noting that there is an overabundance that leads to confusion amongst people. He says, “Many do not know how to determine the accuracy or the truthfulness of new information. Some deal with the matter by looking for reinforcement of their own preexisting, and sometimes ill-informed, notions… Others go to the opposite extreme, finding any piece of information that disrupts their prior views as sufficient reason to throw aside, without further inquiry, truths that have provided sure guidance to them and others in the past.” President Worthen comments address what has become known as fake news and the dangers of biased information.

In a work where news gets thrown in our faces right , left and center , it becomes difficult to filter out which news is true and which is not. But , before asking how to filter out the news , we need to ask ourselves why should we have to categorise the news as credible or non-credible ? Why would the person writing this article wouldn’t want to lie to me ? Many times a journalist may get a story from a source who may or may not be very honest or in some rare cases journalists may make up stories with twisted facts and misquoting individuals. However, in the media business , when someone makes a mistake , there’s always ten others who are waiting to point it out. What makes the media credible, to the everyday reader, is the idea that the

Also in that way, all news is fake news because it is subjective and there is no real way to verify the true truth. This creates a cyclone of misinformation and misinterpretation that is currently engulfing the internet. Often, the premise of fake news deters people from frequenting certain sites and make them more careful about how they get their news. In the 21st century, people are keenly aware of the information they take in, so far so that often pick and choose what knowledge they chose to believe. Likewise, as explained in On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, as people gain more knowledge they feel like they have a superiority to others, and focus on acquiring knowledge far more than anything else in the world. I have noticed that currently people are so invested in becoming more intellectual that they often lead themselves down the wrong paths, towards isolation and loneliness. Information is not supposed to be the be all end all but has become that way in the age of new

After reading Gillmor’s article I felt that his recommendations were helpful. When I first started to read the article I could relate with the Media Consumption section. On a daily basis I consume a tremendous amount of media through Facebook, Twitter, news channels, and many other programs and sites. Obviously, through my consumption of media on applications like Facebook, I tend to consume more fake news than actual credible media. This news sometimes looks real and I fully believe it is real, until I do further research. I thought it was helpful for him to state that people should be skeptical of what they are reading, but not to put the same skepticism on everything that is read. People should look for credibility in the information that

Digital media tend to derive from the truth. It doesn’t challenge the facts to prove them right, but tweak them to question the value of its sincerity. The amount of information available to the public increased since the existence of multiple media outlets and companies. Psychologist conducted a study, which proves the new media’s inability to proving factual evidence. Individuals tend to look up at facts they want to believe, and disregard information unacceptable to them.

As a result, more made up stories will continue to be produced. Advertisers and website owners will unceasingly take advantage of human propensity for their own gain. Secondly, flaws within the journalistic process allow fake news to enter the production cycle. The major issues in journalism is the a lack of resources and the constant demand to produce. Marju Himma-Kadakas, the author of Alternative facts and fake news entering journalistic content production cycle, discusses these issues. She explains that “the growing amount of information is creating an information overload, which leads to ineffective information processing and poorer decision-making. The problem lies not in the information or the amount thereof, but rather in the ‘filter failure’. In such conditions, journalists’ role is to be ‘the filter’: to select and process information in order to make sense of society. ‘Filtering’ – conventional news reporting demands time and other resources, which often are scarce in online journalism”. In this excerpt, Marju Himma-Kadakas, makes an excellent point. Due to the excessive amount of information, it is a necessity to have a journalist that can sort through it to verify whether the information is accurate, reliable, and credible. Journalists also have to condense any lengthy information and make it into the common vernacular, if it is difficult to understand. However, you need resources (e.g. journalists, fact checkers, computers, etc.) in order to complete those time consuming tasks. If you do not have the required resources, then someone might make an irrational decision to publish an article without completing the production cycle (a series of steps before publishing the final product). This could lead to an undesired consequence-- fake news.

(The Association of College and Research Libraries, 2000) said that integrative thinkers succeed even when instability is the only constant. As the information literacy competencies and standards the 21st century was future in the possibility. Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." Information literacy also is increasingly important in the contemporary environment of rapid technological change and proliferating information resources. Because of the escalating complexity of this environment, individuals are faced with diverse, abundant information choices--in their academic studies, in the workplace, and in their personal

In today’s generation, due to a lack of preparation and understanding of fake news in our education programs, the youth seem to be putting all of their trust in the Internet and most cannot determine if a news article is biased or not; therefore, young people seem to be more susceptible to fake news. Teens use the Internet for everything these days, and they need to be well-equipped with many ways to determine real articles from fake ones.

1. Information Literacy is knowing when information is needed and when to use it in many different formats. You have to be professional, be successfully updated, and keep up with current knowledge today. Look online for information you need, make sure information is reliable, to communicate, use computers such as (operating systems), and know how to back up files. People will have a problem when they don’t have the skills and knowledge to be successful at work or school. So with that being said they people will have to keep up with technology and new information to stay ahead of the game. Ask wrong questions, being disorganized, having false information, having old information, finding the wrong information, will wasting your time.

Information literacy is very important in today’s world. Information literacy means that a person has the ability to understand when the information is necessary and that the person is able to find and then use that information. To be information literate, a person must be able to do the following: Assess how much information is needed, find that information, assess the information and make sure that its sources are reliable, use that information as intended, and make sure that the information is not used in a way that’s unethically or illegal.

There are many research questions that could come into mind within the field of Psychology. As an aspiring Psychology professor the research question that I came up with is “What is the most effective way for information literacy instruction?” The most effective way for information literacy instruction is still being researched and debated. Within higher education, starting at the undergraduate level, information literacy instruction becomes a necessary skill to obtain. There are projects, papers, and research that have to be done at this level which makes it a critical skill to have within the curriculum. Many times, the skill is pushed off or isn’t taught in an effective way making these assignments hard for the students to accomplish.

Adults and children are entirely unique and individual information seekers. Their searching strategies, information needs and purposes they search for vary drastically as well. This essay will explore the learner group of children who are in the age group of 8 – 12 year olds. It will explore their information needs, the type of information they require, how they seek information, the challenges and obstacles the children face, and information literacy models that are useful in supporting and developing information literacy in children.

Fake news is taking a hold much of the media today; it creates tension between readers over facts that may not be entirely true. It seems that the rise of fake news became more prevalent during this last elections people confused what was true and what was not. When I initially read the article More People are Arrested for Simple Marijuana Possession than All Violent Crimes Combined I was shocked by the given statistics. The articles very first paragraph states that more than 137,000 people are incarcerated for a petty marijuana charge, far exceeding the amount of individuals in jail for violent crimes. As I continued to read, the writer of the article begins to go into a more emotional position of their writing and